Hard Rain - 2/5: Sugar Mill
The Sugar Mill is the second chapter in the Hard Rain campaign. Once you exit the safe room you see the Ducatel Mill right in front of you. You go in and head through a mill full of Witches. The abundance of Witches is due to the fact that the Witch has a strong attraction to the smell of sugar. Also, according to a recent online poll, it's one of the most difficult levels, and one of the most common places to use health kits and pain pills. The Crescendo event in this chapter is calling the elevator to take you down to a sugar cane field (similar to the corn fields in Blood Harvest of Left 4 Dead). Strategy Campaign After the elevator arrives you head through the field. The campaign ends with you closing a door that leads to the inside of the gas station you've been looking for. Inside th in the saferoom you also see some green gas cans that you take back in the next chapters. In this campaign you also notice that it is sprinkling, or just beginning to rain. Notes *Be aware that "full of Witches" does not mean 3-4 Witches. The level will '''contain up to '''15-20 Witches per level, often more than one in a single area and even lurking around in the sugar cane fields where you can't see them until you've spooked them. *Since this chapter takes place during the day, you will have to try your best to sneak around the Witches as they wander around instead of being stationary. *One tactic you can use to get across the sugar fields is to head all the way to the right or left of the field where the water levels are lower than in the middle so you don't slow down through the field. Another method is to jump constantly through the field looking for any nearby Witches,but be weary though, as you may hit a Witch or two. *Another tactic is to walk on the large pipe going through the field; there aren't many sugar canes near it and it gives you a higher ground, two useful things that can help you spot a witch. *Despite you should focus on the witches, it is VERY easy to forget a tank if he spawns in an area. A good idea is to turn the subtitles on to full captions, wander through the sugar mill carefully, and if you hear a tank, get ready. *Some of the tips below this page for the "Sob Story" achievements are useful to use for navigating around the mills. Achievements *Note that the achievement says without killing any Witches. It is possible to earn the achievement if a player startles a Witch and then escapes or is killed by her, as long as the Witch is not killed. *Since this part of the campaign takes place in the day, the Witches will be walking around the Sugar Mill. This makes it much harder to sneak past them. *Expect that you or your ally will die a lot if you want to get this achievement, especially if you play with AI Survivors since the AI usually fails miserably trying to sneak past them, often opening fire when she becomes agitated. **For that reason, it's probably easier to get this achievement in Expert, since the Witch instantly kills any survivor that startles her. Be careful not to startle her, however. **You can also kill some or all of the AI survivors before encountering Witches, just leaving you and a possible live partner. *It is possible to get the achievement if you join the game part way through the level, making it much easier to get. *If you try being a pacifist to her, she can push you back to the beginning of the level or next to another Witch, so be careful. *Take ladders, stairs, or other shortcuts to avoid Witches. *Faster isn't always better. *Ladies first! Let the Witch take her time walking, then you walk into the area. *Avoid rooms with one exit (with the exception of safe closets), EVEN if they contain objects, because a Witch would likely spawn in the room. * When inside the sugar mill, it would be wise to use melee weapons to deal with Common Infected so that way you don't risk missing and hitting a distant Witch. * Avoid molotovs and incindinary ammo packs because witches set on fire, because not only will that eat away her health, but the person who set her on fire will startle the witch, even isf she's chasing after a survivor. * Record every area where you find a witch. Sometimes, obstacles like tanks or orther witches can push you to another witch. Trivia * The button you press to get the elevator started is the same model used for an elevator in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Another Valve game. * The Witch Bacteria music that lets you know that she's nearby usually gets glitched in this level, because the only way you can hear the bacteria is if you are too close to her, rather than hearing the music that you are getting close to her and then hearing the intense music when you're too close. This is probably because the Witch music would be playing constantly otherwise. Category:Hard Rain Category:Left 4 Dead 2 Category:Chapters